Hi,

I have Fallout 3 + all DLC's on Steam. I'm running Vista 7 32-bit Ultimate.
I'm having troubles launching the game and I think load order is to blame.
Any constructive input is welcome.

Edit: Uninstalled XFO, still crashing before getting to the Main Menu.
Edit2: Removed various MMM optional plug-ins which are covered by FWE.
Edit3: Reinstalled Project Beauty HD compactibility esp files.
Edit4: Reinstalled DarnUI.
Issue solved. It was the DarnUI misinstallation.

Here is the load order:

[X] Fallout3.esm
[X] Anchorage.esm
[X] ThePitt.esm
[X] BrokenSteel.esm
[X] PointLookout.esm
[X] Zeta.esm
[X] StreetLights.esm
[X] CRAFT.esm
[X] CALIBR.esm
[X] xCALIBR.esm
[X] Project Beauty HD version.esm
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Main File.esm
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod.esm
[X] CRAFT - Activation Perk.esp
[X] Stealthboy Recon Armor - CRAFT.esp
[X] CALIBR Ammo Schematics - CRAFT.esp
[X] DarNifiedUIF3.esp
[X] Project Beauty- Broken Steel.esp
[X] Project Beauty- Point Lookout.esp
[X] UPP - Pack 1.esp
[X] UPP - Pack 2.esp
[X] UPP - Original Perks.esp
[X] UPP - Experience Perks.esp
[X] UPP - Beverage Perks.esp
[X] UPP - Quest Perks.esp
[X] Fellout-Full.esp
[X] Fellout-pipboylight.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Main File.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Anchorage.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC The Pitt.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Broken Steel.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - DLC Mothership Zeta.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Project Beauty.esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Project Beauty (HD Addition).esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Followers Enhanced (BrokenSteel).esp
[X] FO3 Wanderers Edition - Project Beauty (Followers Enhanced B-S).esp
[X] WeaponModKits.esp
[X] WeaponModKits - FWE Master Release.esp
[X] WeaponModKits - OperationAnchorage.esp
[X] WeaponModKits - ThePitt.esp
[X] WeaponModKits - BrokenSteel.esp
[X] WeaponModKits - PointLookout.esp
[X] WeaponModKits - Zeta.esp
[X] EVE.esp
[X] EVE Operation Anchorage.esp
[X] EVE - FWE Master Release.esp
[X] EVE Anchorage - FWE DLC Anchorage.esp
[X] EVE - FWE with WeaponModKits.esp
[X] CALIBRxMerchant.esp
[X] xCALIBR_override.esp
[X] xCALIBRmunitions.esp
[X] xCALIBRmunitions_FOSEnhancements.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod.esp
[X] PB MMM HD.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Anchorage.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC The Pitt.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Broken Steel.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Point Lookout.esp
[X] Project Beauty- Point Lookout MMM.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Zeta.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE Master Release.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - FWE with EVE.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - Project Beauty.esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - Project Beauty (HD Addition).esp
[X] Mart's Mutant Mod - Project Beauty + FWE.esp
[X] Choose your own hairstyle (load this last on FOMM).esp
[X] Bashed Patch.esp

Aren't XFO and FWE not compatible?

i seen people use both, but with all those XFO plugins i think that could cause problems, if your using FWE there is really no point in using XFO IMO

that looks better, you forgot one though

so still crashing at startup?

Have you rebuilt your merged patch? If you are still using the same patch it might still have some xfo mod as master.
Just load your loadorder in FO3Edit and check at what plugin an error occurs.

Yes.
Once I get the issue solved i'll put some bolded capslock stuff into the OP. Until then...

The background loader in FO3Edit doesn't report any critical errors.
I wonder if I should include "Choose your own hairstyle (load this last on FOMM).esp" into the merge. Moreover, should I be even checking that esp file in FOMM?

is it the same patch though?? check in FOMM to see if your bashed patch has XFO as a master, if that doesn't work start disabling mods one by one to find the cause

No, I deleted the previous one and created a fresh patch in FO3Edit.

I recently went through the same issue. I ended up having to manually install Darn.

I ruled out the mods by disabling them; I eventually tried disabling everything except fallout3 and the dlcs and it was still crashing. Then I realized that the ini hadn't been changed for the Darn fonts and decided I should redo it. Viola - my crashes were gone.

Have you tried to delete you ini file and let the game create a new one?

The only other thing I would suggest (and highly doubt it would fix anything) would be to make sure Fellout loads after mmm. ( Keep Fellout-pipboylight.esp where it is though)

That's right, did you install DarnUI properly? Some people dont read the description on the FWE page and only install the FWE Darn UI update, however it requires DarnUI a11 to be installed priorly(and the update on top).

Bah! I had the Alpha 10 and then FWE update which was designed for Alpha 11.
Brb rebuilding mod list

Edit: This was the culprit. Issue is now resolved. Thanks to everybody for brainstorming the ideas.

I had installed the FOMM version of Darn UI originally; as I had crashes, I suspect I messed it up somehow, thus the manual install. I had forgotten there was an update specifically for FWE but I did pick that up this morning.